Freedom of Expression under threat as Director of MSF is arrested
SOAT
On 30 May 2005, the country director of M�decins Sans Fronti�res (MSF)-Holland was arrested by security forces and taken before the prosecutor of the crimes against state attorney, Mr. Mohamed Farid in Khartoum. Paul Foreman, a British National was charged under articles 66 (Publication of False News), 96 (Omission to Produce Document or Deliver Statement) and 53 (Espionage against the Country) which is punishable with death under the 1991 Penal Code. Mr. Foreman was released on bail on the grounds that he may not leave the country and is to appear before the prosecutor today, Tuesday 31 May 2005. �
Background
The charges against Mr. Foreman relates to a briefing paper published by MSF-Holland in March 2005 in celebration of International Women’s Day entitled ‘The Crushing Burden of Rape: Sexual Violence in Darfur’. Reportedly the government requested through the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) for MSF-Holland to refrain from publishing the report on the grounds that the information contained in the report was ‘false’ and that ‘these kinds of false reports damage the image of Sudan’.� Reportedly before Mr. Foreman’s arrest, state authorities requested that MSF-Holland provide the medical documents used in the publication. MSF-Holland refused on the grounds of doctor-patience confidentiality.�
SOAT condemns the targeting of international humanitarian organisations working in Darfur and calls on government authorities to drop all the charges against MSF-Holland and to refrain from threats against national and international NGOs and to ensure that humanitarian organisations are able to conduct their invaluable work in Darfur in a manner which does not impede their work. As noted by Jan Egeland, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, “it is an incontestable fact that rape and sexual violence are rampant in the ongoing crisis in Darfur. The Sudanese Government, the UN and international NGOs only recently made substantial progress in addressing this issue, efforts that must continue to ensure that all victims of sexual violence receive assistance and protection.” SOAT has documented and reported to the authorities numerous cases of rape and sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur. In many of the cases, notwithstanding that SOAT has documented and reported the names of alleged perpetrators, very little has thus far been done by government authorities to properly investigate allegations or undertake serious measures to end the culture of impunity which allows these heinous acts to continue.� Thus the government of Sudan bears full responsibility for the persistence of widespread rape and sexual abuse in Darfur.
SOAT urges the Government of Sudan to:
– Drop all charges Paul Forman;
– Comply with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the government is obligated State Party;
– End restrictions on freedom of expression, allow full and open reporting of, and comment upon the current state of affairs in Sudan, particularly in Darfur;
– Cease the use of the penal code to threaten and to allow full freedom of expression in accordance with international human rights standards;
– Comply with all UN Security resolutions and the UN commission on Human Rights Resolution which explicitly condemns “the continuation of violence against civilians and sexual violence against women and girls”;
– Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights laws and standards.
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